![EurekaHistoricDistrict-CarsonMansion2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/EurekaHistoricDistrict-CarsonMansion2.jpg)
Queen Anne style architecture was one of a number of popular
Victorian architectural styles
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
that emerged in the United States during the period from roughly 1880 to 1910. Popular there during this time, it followed the
Second Empire Second Empire may refer to:
* Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783
* Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396)
* Second French Empire (1852–1870)
** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...
and
Stick styles and preceded the
Richardsonian Romanesque and
Shingle styles. Sub-movements of Queen Anne include the
Eastlake movement
The Eastlake movement was a nineteenth-century architectural and household design reform movement started by British architect and writer Charles Eastlake (1836–1906). The movement is generally considered part of the late Victorian period in t ...
.
The style bears almost no relationship to the original
Queen Anne style architecture in Britain (a toned-down version of
English Baroque
English Baroque is a term used to refer to modes of English architecture that paralleled Baroque architecture in continental Europe between the Great Fire of London (1666) and roughly 1720, when the flamboyant and dramatic qualities of Baroque ...
that was used mostly for
gentry
Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past.
Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies
''Gentry'', in its widest c ...
houses) which appeared during the time of
Queen Anne, who reigned from 1702 to 1714, nor of
Queen Anne Revival (which appeared in the latter 19th century there).
The American style covers a wide range of picturesque buildings with "free Renaissance" (non-
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
) details, rather than being a specific formulaic style in its own right.
The term "Queen Anne", as an alternative both to the French-derived
Second Empire style
Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...
and the less "domestic"
''Beaux-Arts'' style, is broadly applied to architecture, furniture and decorative arts of the period from 1880 to 1910. Some Queen Anne architectural elements, such as the wrap-around front porch, continued to be found into the 1920s.
Overview
![1800 block of California Street, NW](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/1800_block_of_California_Street%2C_NW.JPG)
Queen Anne style buildings in the United States came into vogue during the 1880s, replacing the French-derived
Second Empire Second Empire may refer to:
* Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783
* Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396)
* Second French Empire (1852–1870)
** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...
as the 'style of the moment'. The popularity of high Queen Anne style waned in the early 1900s, but some elements continued to be found on buildings into the 1920s, such as the wrap-around front porch (often L-shaped).
![Bembridge House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Bembridge_House.jpg)
Distinctive features of the American Queen Anne style may include:
*
asymmetrical
Asymmetry is the absence of, or a violation of, symmetry (the property of an object being invariant to a transformation, such as reflection). Symmetry is an important property of both physical and abstract systems and it may be displayed in pre ...
façade
* dominant front-facing
gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
, often
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...
ed beyond the plane of the wall below
* overhanging
eaves
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...
* round, square, or
polygonal
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two tog ...
towers
* shaped and
Dutch gable
A Dutch gable or Flemish gable is a gable whose sides have a shape made up of one or more curves and has a pediment at the top. The gable may be an entirely decorative projection above a flat section of roof line, or may be the termination of a ...
s
* a
porch
A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...
covering part or all of the front facade, including the primary entrance area
* a second-story porch or balconies
*
pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedim ...
ed porches
* differing wall textures, such as patterned wood shingles shaped into varying designs, including resembling fish scales,
terra cotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
tiles,
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
panels, or wooden shingles over brickwork, etc.
*
dentil
A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian R ...
s
* classical columns
* spindle work
*
oriel and bay windows
* horizontal bands of leaded windows
* monumental chimneys
* painted
balustrade
A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...
s
* wooden or
slate roofs
* front gardens with wooden fences
Examples
![120 West 16th Street from west](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/120_West_16th_Street_from_west.jpg)
The
British 19th-century Queen Anne style that had been formulated there by
Norman Shaw
Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...
and other architects arrived in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
with the new housing for the New York House and School of Industry at 120 West 16th Street (designed by
Sidney V. Stratton, 1878). The
Astral Apartments
The Astral Apartments is an apartment building located at 184 Franklin Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City. The Astral was built in 1885–1886 as affordable housing for employees of Charles Pratt's Astral Oil Works. It is a block-long ...
that were built in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
in 1885–86 (to house workers) are an example of red-brick and terracotta Queen Anne architecture in New York.
E. Francis Baldwin's stations for the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
are also familiar examples of the style, built variously of brick and wood.
Gabled and domestically scaled, these early American Queen Anne homes were built of warm, soft brick enclosing square
terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
panels, with an arched side passage leading to an inner court and back house. Their detailing is largely confined to the treatment of picturesquely disposed windows, with small-paned upper sashes and plate glass lower ones. Triple windows of a Serlian motif and a two-story
oriel window that projects asymmetrically were frequently featured.
The most famous American Queen Anne residence is the
Carson Mansion
The Carson Mansion is a large Victorian house located in Old Town, Eureka, California. Regarded as one of the premier examples of Queen Anne style architecture in the United States, the house is "considered the most grand Victorian home in Amer ...
in
Eureka, California
Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt ...
.
Newsom and Newsom were notable builder-architects of 19th-century California homes and public buildings, and they designed and constructed (1884–86) this 18-room home for William Carson, one of California's first
lumber barons.
Free Classic
After 1885, usage of
Eastlake-style trim shifted over to "free classic" or
Colonial Revival
The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture.
The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...
trim, including
pedimented
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pediment ...
entryways and
Palladian windows
A Venetian window (also known as a Serlian window) is a large tripartite window which is a key element in Palladian architecture. Although Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) did not invent it, the window features largely in the work of the Italian a ...
.
Queen Anne cottage
![William G](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/William_G._Harrison_House%2C_Nashville%2C_GA%2C_USA_%2802%29.jpg)
Smaller and somewhat plainer houses can also be Queen Anne. The
William G. Harrison House is an example, built in 1904 in rural
Nashville, Georgia
Nashville is a city in and the county seat of Berrien County, Georgia, United States. The population was 7,029 at the 2022 census. It is called the "City of Dogwoods", as the tree grows in large numbers around the area.
History
Nashville was fo ...
.
Characteristics of the Queen Anne cottage style are:
*one or two story frame house (second floor where one exists is a finished
attic)
*wrap-around porch with turned posts, decorative brackets, and spindlework
*square layout with projecting gables to front and side
*pyramidal or hipped roof reflecting pyramidal massing
*rooms are asymmetrical and there is no central hallway
*interior-located chimneys
*interior detailing, such as door surrounds, window surrounds,
wainscoting
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make ro ...
, and
mantels
The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and ca ...
*built in 1880s and 1890s for middle class in both urban and rural areas, with popularity in rural areas continuing into early 1900s.
[ with (see photo captions in text document)][ (summarizes from 1991 ''Georgia's Living Places: Historic Houses in Their Landscaped Settings'']
Shingle style
![William Berryman Scott House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/William_Berryman_Scott_House.jpg)
The Shingle style in America was made popular by the rise of the New England school of architecture, which eschewed the highly ornamented patterns of the
Eastlake style
The Eastlake movement was a nineteenth-century architectural and household design reform movement started by British architect and writer Charles Eastlake (1836–1906). The movement is generally considered part of the late Victorian period in t ...
. In the Shingle style, English influence was combined with the renewed interest in
Colonial American architecture which followed the 1876 celebration of the Centennial. Architects emulated colonial houses' plain, shingled surfaces as well as their massing, whether in the simple gable of McKim Mead and White's
Low House or in the complex massing of
Kragsyde
Kragsyde (1883–85 – 1929) was a Shingle style mansion designed by the Boston architectural firm of Peabody & Stearns and built at Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. Although long demolished, it is considered an icon of American arc ...
, which looked almost as if a colonial house had been fancifully expanded over many years. This impression of the passage of time was enhanced by the use of shingles. Some architects, in order to attain a weathered look on a new building, even had the cedar shakes dipped in buttermilk, dried and then installed, to leave a grayish tinge to the façade.
The Shingle style also conveyed a sense of the house as continuous volume. This effect—of the building as an envelope of space, rather than a great mass, was enhanced by the visual tautness of the flat shingled surfaces, the horizontal shape of many shingle-style houses, and the emphasis on horizontal continuity, both in exterior details and in the flow of spaces within the houses.
McKim, Mead and White
McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), ...
and
Peabody and Stearns were two of the notable firms of the era that helped to popularize the shingle style, through their large-scale commissions for "seaside cottages" of the rich and the well-to-do in such places as Newport, Rhode Island. However, the most famous Shingle-style house built in America was "Kragsyde" (1882), the summer home commissioned by Bostonian G. Nixon Black, from Peabody and Stearns. Kragsyde was built atop the rocky coastal shore near
Manchester-By-the-Sea, Massachusetts, and embodied every possible tenet of the shingle style.
Many of the concepts of the Shingle style were adopted by
Gustav Stickley
Gustav Stickley (March 9, 1858 – April 15, 1942) was an American furniture manufacturer, design leader, publisher, and a leading voice in the American Arts and Crafts movement. Stickley's design philosophy was a major influence on American ...
, and adapted to the American version of the
Arts and Crafts Movement.
See also
*
Victorian architectural styles
*
Victorian architecture in the United States
References
External links
*
Queen Anne – Architectural Styles of America
{{Architecture in the United States
United States
Queen Anne
Queen Anne
Queen Anne U.S.
National Register of Historic Places architecture categories
.Queen Anne
19th-century architecture in the United States